About

Kent Connects is a nationally recognised successful multi-agency Partnership of public service providers, comprising all Kent and Medway Councils, Kent Police, Kent Fire & Rescue Service, and South East Commissioning Support Unit (SECSU).

Established in 2002 as an e-Government Partnership, Kent Connects is funded by its Partner authorities.

With IT as the backbone to most public service functions, technology is recognised as one of the keys to successful and efficient services. Kent Connects has already invested in a single, county wide IT infrastructure (both technology and people) to enable our Partners to join up and share their service delivery mechanisms in a secure, robust and cost effective environment.

Our role is to tackle the barriers to the joining up and sharing of public services.

Our vision is to lead this transformation through the application of leading edge technology.

The published Public Services ICT Strategy & Action Plan is available for reference.

Partners

Kent Connects works with 17 Partner organisations. To see a full list of Partners and find out more about who they are click here.

Projects and services

Through the funding and joint work of Kent Connects and its Partner organisations, over the years Kent Connects has created and maintained a number of projects and services that each provide benefit to many if not all of our Partners.

Kent Public Service Network (KPSN)
KPSN’s objective is to provide a single public service network for all public agencies, which provides cost savings through enabling shared ICT services and better service delivery to the citizen. Rural communities and small and medium enterprises (SME) can also be helped through KPSN’s deep reach into urban, coastal and small village locations.

Kent & Medway Regional Data Centres (KMRDC)
One of the most successful Kent Connects projects was the KMRDC, which provides regional data centres for all of the Kent Connects Partners. These provide an off-site space for data storage, server hosting, and backup services.

Disaster Recovery & Backups as a Service (DRBaaS)
The Kent Connects DRBaaS currently provides five partners with off-site backup services and a disaster recovery service which allows for Partners to quickly have key services live again in a disaster situation.

Kent IT Alliance (KITA)
Kent Connects maintains connections with the Universities of Kent, Canterbury Christchurch, and Greenwich. As part of this alliance Kent Connects works with the universities regularly for a number of reasons including:

student placement opportunities

speakers for Kent Connects masterclasses

events and workshops

digital.together

digital.together is a pioneering initiative of awareness and inspiration, focusing on the huge opportunities that digital creates for everyone in Kent. It is driven by Kent Connects and has already seen great success in working with Partners and members of the public to increase digital skills and awareness.Find out more about digital.together

Kent Connects Portals

The Kent Connects web portals have been developed to create a virtual online space for specific groups to share information via the internet in a secure way. This allows groups or individuals from Partner organisations to access documents, minutes, agenda etc. from a central store.

The Partnership Office

The Kent Connects Partnership Office is the central office for all Kent Connects activities. Based within KCC the Partnership Office arranges all Kent Connects meetings, training and events along with being the first point of contact for Partners on Kent Connects related issues or queries.

Student placements

As part of the KITA initiative, Kent Connects regularly takes on students from the Universities of Kent, Canterbury Christchurch and Greenwich to fill IT specific roles from across the Partners.

To have a look at what some of the past Kent Connects placement students were involved in during their time as part of Kent Connects and its partners check out our Placements section.